Written by AB Basil
Araba grabbed her Valentino purse from the seat and stepped into the cool evening air of The Cocoa Royal.
‘So 7pm tomorrow, madam?’
‘Yes, as usual,’ she said breezily. She walked towards the doorman, who speedily swung open the establishment for the beautiful woman with beautiful ankles. Inside the lavish lobby, she went up to the hotel desk and smiled a brilliant smile. Her hair was parted to the left side and lay soft and even over her shoulders, revealing a golden hoop on a tiny ear. The black dress she wore ate into her waist and left her legs long and wicked. She was an arrow of beauty.
––
‘Reservation for Araba Donkor,’ the woman sang to me. I almost choked each time.
‘Good evening and welcome to The Cocoa Royal.’
‘Hi Rose, how is it going?’
‘Everything is cool, how about you?’
‘I am good, thank you. I’m here again.’ She said, laughing softly. I laughed too.
‘I have your keycard right here for you. Room 101.’
‘Thank you,’ she replied. Her fingers grazed mine, and our eyes stayed on the other’s for just a second longer. ‘Enjoy your stay, Ms. Donkor,’ I managed to say.
I allowed myself to follow the edge of her presence as she walked away, gliding and sure. I was mesmerized and did not mind it. Her sweet perfume had spilled into the air around my head, and I found myself wishing for more than our usual encounter. I sat back down slowly at my desk wondering who she was. A few minutes later, the phone shrilly rang me out of my musings.
‘Front desk?’
‘Yes, speaking.’
‘This is Bobby. There’s a situation in room 101 and the guest needs some help. Please go and see her and tell Yaw to take over.’
‘Alright.’
Room 101? I opened the mini trap door in front of the desk and moved down the hallway to find Yaw. He was either in the empty conference room on this floor or chatting with Jay at the back of the building. When I got to the room, I opened the door and met no one there, except the cooling hum of the air conditioner. I continued the journey down the hall until I got to the door at its end. I pushed it open, stepped into the wet grass and smelt the burning of God’s herb.
‘Yaw,’ I said without seeing him. ‘Please you’re needed at the front desk.’
I let the door close behind me and turned to face the two men, leaning against the wall.
The bougainvillea bushes and cricket song from our neighbor’s compound greeted me. I sensed the slow calm of the approaching night.
‘Ok madam, m’ati wai.’ Yaw responded, chuckling with Jay, who had a joint at his lips.
‘Let the wind blow on you small before you go, okay? Y’all smell high as hell,’ I said, thrusting the cellphone into his hands.
As I walked back down the long hallway, I started thinking about the beautiful woman again. Why had she called? I passed in front of the front desk and climbed the gray tiled stairs winding up to the second floor. Room 101 was the furthest room at the end of the hallway, and it took me some time to get to her door. Gently, I knocked.
‘It’s Rose from the front desk.’
The door opened and she stood in front of me in a t-shirt and jeans shorts, hair tied back from her face.
‘Rose, can you help me please? I cannot close my window.’
She stepped aside to let me into the room and moved towards the two large windows facing the door.
‘See? It’s not closing.’
She reached up and tried to push the windowsill down from the top but it would not budge.
‘Do you mind if I use the chair in front of the dresser?’ I asked.
‘Yeah let’s try that.’
I pulled the chair to the window and stood on it. I pushed and pushed but the window still did not give way.
Here, let me help, maybe it will move.’ She placed the second chair next to mine and then climbed onto its purple foam. Together, we put pressure on the sill until it finally came down.
‘Ah, thank you very much. I was struggling before you came,’ she said, stepping off the chair.
‘Oh no problem, glad I could help.’
We placed the chairs back in their original positions. The setting sun was shooting through the white muslin curtains so that the room had that contented orange glow of a dying day. I felt serene.
‘At least it wasn’t a fire.’
‘A fire?! Why would you even think of that?’ She was facing me now, laughter slipping out from her mouth like a river.
I smiled and shrugged.
‘I’m just saying.’
As I was turning towards the door, the words on her shirt – ‘dumb luck’ – climbed into my eyes and stayed on my insides until I got home and put the day to rest.
––
I saw Rose again three weeks later, while I was eating dinner alone after a long day of meetings and pitches. I was working on a project which required me to spend a lot of time in a part of the city I did not know too well. Most of my friends in Lamine were on the northside, where I lived. We came to the south for work, restaurants, the dazzling city lights, that sort of thing, but we preferred to live around the neighborhoods of Dupa and Kotzui, where things were cheaper and quieter. It had been a few years now since I moved from my hometown of Shells Coast for University, and while I had not been back since, I still did not feel as though Lamine was home. I wondered if it meant that there was something wrong with me, like, she hasn’t gone home even once to see her family, she only works and works and calls them on the phone, sends them photos, missing them, says everything is fine. I did not know what the truth was but on many days, my life felt like it belonged to another person. I would wake up in the mornings eager for something new, but by nighttime, I would be my same old self, sad and crying about things I could not change. It felt as if my life was slowing down, as if I was entering the black and white version of things, and at long last, I was beginning to welcome it. I was tired of running and staying in the same place all at once. I was okay with drowning.
As I spun the pasta round my fork, thoughts loud and repetitive in my head, I heard some laughter coming from the bar. The dining room was empty except for me and a family seated to my left. Its dim lights left a golden patina over the tables and a shine inside my glass of water. Lifting it to drink, I saw Rose at the bar with others, her braids long and spilling over the back of her blue T-shirt. I did not see her here often and was pleasantly surprised. I found myself wishing that she would see me too, even as I finished my meal and waved for my bill. The waiter brought it to me, and I paid. I was gathering my things to leave when I saw her coming towards me. My stomach turned on my insides.
‘Nice to see you here, Araba.’
‘Rose, nice to see you too.’
I felt the room disappear, so it was just us.
‘Mind if I sit?’
‘Oh yes, feel free.’
In her right hand she was holding a small bowl with ice-cream and a spoon inside it. She was lovely to behold, the spoor of fresh flowers, belle.
‘This is my late-night snack when I stay too late.’
‘I see! Not a bad snack at all. Why are you here so late?’
‘I had to make sure there was enough bedding for all the rooms. The hotel is hosting several football teams here tomorrow.’
‘Oh okay, I see. And are you prepared for them?’
‘As prepared as I can be. I have gone through my spreadsheets and cross checked everything. It’s going to be a very busy day. You want some?’
She gestured to the ice-cream. I nodded.
She got the waiter’s attention and wove the spoon in the air. The restaurant would be closing soon.
‘Vanilla. Also your go-to?’
‘Always.’
The second spoon came, and I put the cold sweetness on my tongue.
‘Good, right?’
‘Yea, it’s perfect. Just what I needed.’
‘Long day?’
‘Yes, very long. I was up before the sun and I will do it again tomorrow.’
‘Eish. What do you have to do?’
‘Meetings, emails, meetings that could have been emails.’ I said, rolling my eyes.
Rose laughed.
‘Is it that bad?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know but it feels like it sometimes. How about you?’
‘Hmm. Every day is a long day. I have accepted it now.’
‘Hmm. Does that mean you don’t complain?’
‘No, I do. But I try to be more accepting of the shape of my life now, I guess. I watch it as it comes and goes.’
‘That sounds profound and hard.’
‘It is hard. Sometimes I am tired of trying. Sometimes things stay the same.’
The ice-cream was finished now and the staff were packing out.
‘Yeah, I understand that. Sometimes this life no balance, eh?’
‘No, but we must balance it.’
We laughed and a simple silence fell over us.
Rose looked at me and I looked at her.
‘Do you want to go down to the beach?’
‘Right now?’
‘Yes, right now.’
‘Really?’
‘Yea, why not?’
‘Don’t you have an early morning?’
‘Opportunity comes but…’
‘Once.’
We shined our teeth to each other in agreement and then got up to leave the dining room, partially lit and full of shadows, as it was finally closing. I followed Rose out through the kitchen area and we came to a narrow corridor with a trap door. I could hear the water charging forth in its familiar roar. I took off my slippers and slung my bag across my shoulders. Rose took hers off too and then opened the door. We stepped out into the sand and the whipping wind. The ocean’s sound was so loud in my ears, I felt surrounded by it.
Underneath our feet the grains gave way to the pressure of each step, and I kept close to Rose. We walked and walked towards the pitch dark of the shore, one step ahead of the other. The stars were spread out in the sky, numerous and luminous. I was flying somewhere close to their constellations.
––
The two women walked to the edge of the water and sat down by a huge rock that lifted itself out of the earth. Next to each other, they could hear the other’s heartbeat, steady and sure. They talked about home, poetry, and the future, about staying alive inside your body. They talked about boredom. They talked about how life could make you wish everything was the opposite of what it was. They talked about having to make all kinds of decisions.
‘But when I saw you on the very first day, I felt different.’
‘You did? Me too…’ Rose’s voice trailed off.
‘I was struck’, Araba whispered.
They looked closely at the other and leaned in, one soft lip melting into another. The ocean carried on.
